Protective hat with suspension attachment



Jan.,15, 1957 .1. R. FISH ER 2,777,128

PROTECTIVE HAT WITH SUSPENSION ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 15, 1954 HVVENTOR. -/esEPH' R FBI/5 A is flr kw y Un Swis Patsfl PROTECTIVE HAT WITH SUSPENSIO ATTACHMENT Application October 15, 1954, Serial No. 462,441

7 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates tov protective hats, and more particularly to the suspension of the hacshellfrom the headband and head-engaging cradle. 1 s

It is common practice to attach a hat suspension, consisting of a headband and head cradle, inside the rigid crown of a protective hatby means of a lace threaded through perforations in the base of. the crown. .The. ends of the lace are tied together. In the past, however, the headband and cradle could be removed from the crown only by untieing thelace and pulling it out of the crown perforations to free the suspension. To replace the suspension in the crown it was necessary to rethread the lace through the perforations in the crown and through the supporting loops with which the suspension was provided. All of this required a considerable amount of time.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a protective hat, in which the headband and cradle can quickly and easily be removed and replaced, and in which a supporting lace does not have to be removed for that purpose.

In accordance with this invention, a rigid crown of a protective hat is provided around its base with a plurality of circumferentially spaced perforations. A crown-supporting lace extends in and out through the perforations to form inside the crown a plurality of circumferentially spaced loops. A headband and head-engaging cradle are within the crown. A plurality of attaching tabs are located around the headband and connected with it and the cradle. Each tab is provided with an upwardly projecting tongue. Connection of the crown to the suspension inside of it is made by loosening the lace to provide some slack so that the size of the loops inside the crown can be increased. The tongues of the attaching tabs then are inserted up through the loops. The lace then is pulled tight again and retied. Consequently, the suspension can be inserted or detached without removing the lace from the crown.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of a protective hat;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the hat;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical section through one end of the hat, taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of an attaching tab, taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, a protective hat of conventional form has a high domeshaped crown 1, the bottom of which is surrounded by a brim 2 integral therewith. The crown and brim are rigid, being formed from metal or from a suitable fabric impregnated with a plastic and molded into shape as is well known in this art.

Around the base of the crown there are several circumferentially spaced pairs of perforations 3 through it. Preferably, as indicated in Fig. 1, there are four such pairs, one pair at each side and at front and back. A lace 4, the ends of which are tied together outside of the crown,

2,777,128 Patented Jan. 15, 1957 passes in and out through the perforations to form a plurality of loops 5 within the crown. Each loop is located beside a pair of the perforations 3. Inside the crown there are a headband 7 and a head-engaging cradle. The headband may be formed from a length of fabric or leather in the usual way. The cradle is formed from four short straps 8 provided at their upper ends with loops, through which a cord 9 extends to connect them together.

In accordance with this invention there are several attaching tabs 11 aroundthe headband. These tabs are made of a relatively stiif material, such as a synthetic plastic, but one which is not rigid but which is flexible enough to bend slightly when pressure is applied by the fingers. There should be the same number of tabs as lace loops 5, and each tab is located beside a loop. As

shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the upper portion of each attaching tab may be secured to the upper part of the headband-by rivets 13 and to the lower ends of cradle straps 8 by rivets 12, although there are other obvious ways of connecting the tabs to the headband and head-engaging cradle known in this art.

I It is a feature of this invention that the lower portion of each tab is provided with a tongue 15 which extends upwardly. Most suitably, the tongue is integral with the tab and is cut or struck out. of it. The tongues extend up through the adjoining lace loops to connect the hat suspension with the crown. To facilitate insertion of the tongues in the loops, each tab may be provided with a large opening 16 directly above its tongue so that a loop can be passed through the opening and held in the fingers While the tongue is moved up into it. It also is helpful to taper the tongues upwardly. To make room for the lace at the opposite edges of each tongue and also to help lock the tongues in the loops, it is preferred to provide each tab at the opposite edges of the base of its tongue with laterally opening notches 17. These may be in both the tongue and the body of the tab, or in either. Laterally projecting ears 18 at the opposite edges of the tab help a person to hold onto it when pulling the tab out of a hat.

It will be understood that with the invention disclosed herein a helmet suspension can be quickly and easily attached to or removed from the crown or shell by merely loosening the lace and then inserting the attachment tab tongues in the lace loops or pulling them out of the loops. The lace remains in place in the crown, which is a considerable advantage over the practice heretofore, where the lace had to be removed and then threaded back through the perforations in the crown.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A protective hat comprising a rigid crown provided around its base with perforations, a lace passing in and out through said perforations to form inside the crown a plurality of circumferentially spaced loops, a headband inside the crown, a head-engaging cradle above the head band, and attaching tabs inside the crown around the headband and connected with the headband and cradle, each of said tabs being provided with a relatively stiff tongue projecting upwardly through one of said loops, whereby the cradle and headband support the crown and can be detached therefrom without removing the lace.

2. A protective hat comprising a rigid crown provided around its base with circumferentially spaced perforations, a lace passing in and out through said perforations to form inside the crown a plurality of circumferentially spaced loops, a headband inside the crown, a head-engaging cradle above the headband, and a plurality of circumfcrentially spaced attaching tabs inside the crown around the headband, each of said tabs having an upwardly extending tongue and being provided with laterally opening notches at opposite edges of the base of its tongue, and each of said loops receiving a tongue and extending through the associated notches, whereby the cradle and headband support the crown and can be detached therefrom without removing the lace.

3. A protective hat according to claim 1, in which said tongues taper upwardly.

4. A protective hat according to claim 1, in which said perforations are arranged in circumferentially spaced pairs.

5. A protective hat according to claim 1, in which each of said attaching tabs is provided with an opening directly above its tongue to facilitate connecting the tongue with t a loop.

6. A protective hat comprising a rigid crown provided around its base with perforations, a lace passing in and out through said perforations to form inside the crown a plurality of circumferentially spaced loops, a headband inside the crown, a head-engaging cradle above the headband, attaching tabs inside the crown around the headband, and means connecting the tabs with the headband and cradle, each of said tabs being provided below said connecting means with a relatively stiff tongue projecting upwardly through one of said loops, whereby the cradle and headband support the crown and can be detached therefrom without removing the lace.

7. A protective hat comprising a rigid crown provided around its base with a plurality of circumferentially spaced pairs of perforations, a lace passing in and out through said perforations to form inside the crown a plurality of circumferentially spaced loops, a headband inside the crown, a head-engaging cradle above the headband, a plurality of circumferentially spaced relatively stiff attaching tabs inside the crown around the headband, and means connecting the upper portions of the tabs with the headband and cradle, the lower portion of each attaching tab having an upwardly tapered struck-out tongue extending upwardly through one of said loops, and each tab being provided with laterally opening notches at the opposite edges of the base of its tongue receiving the lace, whereby the headband and cradle support the crown and can be detached therefrom without removing the lace.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,492,577 Obermeyer May 6, 1924 1,912,551 Strauss June 6, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 679,848 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1952 918,227 France Feb. 3, 1947 980,489 France May 15, 1951 

